Eich, intolerance, and the growing demand for absolutism

posted at 12:01 pm on April 8, 2014 by Ed Morrissey

There are plenty of reasons to oppose the actions of Mozilla in regard to Brendan Eich, but their enforcement of groupthink didn’t happen in a vacuum. In my column at The Week today, I argue that our political culture has shifted away from debate as a part of citizenship to our total identity — and the rise of absolutism as a result. Don’t think that Mozilla is alone, or that same-sex marriage is the only issue which generates this kind of demand for lockstep thinking:

To be sure, this is not a First Amendment issue, in either speech or religious expression. Mozilla is not a government entity. Employment at Mozilla is not a right to be claimed, but a practical arrangement for mutual benefit. It’s not a legal issue either, since Eich didn’t exactly get fired, even if he left under duress. Furthermore, as some have argued, Mozilla’s board does have a fiduciary responsibility to shield its investors from unnecessary risk, and having a lightning rod for a CEO certainly qualified as one of those risks. (Even if its actions ended up creating much more risk in the long run for the company’s prospects; Mozilla’s feedback site has been dominated by angry messages over the Eich affair.)

No, this is a cultural issue, one that has been brewing for a very long time. As I wrote earlier in the case of forced participation in same-sex weddings, the more we demand outcome-based tolerance, the more we will see the Eichs of this world hounded. Eich didn’t set out to mold company policy around his personal views; in fact, after winning the CEO job, Eich insisted that he would continue and expand policies of tolerance and non-discrimination at Mozilla. But in today’s winner-take-all political culture, that was unacceptable. Eich had to champion “diversity” by proclaiming his support for a politically correct consensus.

My colleague Damon Linker called the activists who demanded this lock-step conformity “gay marriage bigots” in his excellent column on Monday, but that’s not quite the right word, nor the limit of the problem. We are seeing the rise of a new absolutism in our political culture, a demand for total obedience and loyalty rather than an appreciation of different points of view. It’s not limited to same-sex marriage, or even one party. This attitude exists in both parties on issues such as immigration and budget policy. Absolutism comes up from the grass roots that demand complete and total allegiance to their views, as well as down from the heights of Washington, where the president has a terrible habit of declaring that certain debates are “over.”

It’s also seen — even more clearly — in the character assassination from the Senate floor from the President’s closest ally on Capitol Hill. Opposition to the ruling clique’s agenda is no longer merely misguided or in need of rebuttal. It’s cause to drive the heretics out of the flock, to declare their dissent “un-American.” Harry Reid shows that this problem goes way beyond Mozilla.

Not that this lets Mozilla off the hook. Its statement that declared its “organizational culture reflects diversity and inclusiveness” while booting out one of its founders over a donation six years earlier to a referendum that won a majority of votes would make George Orwell cringe:

Conformity Is Diversity! Equality For All…Who Agree With Us! Needless to say, it is impossible to claim support for free speech, diversity, and inclusiveness while enabling a witch hunt that drives out supposed heretics. For a company whose products claim to serve an open-web philosophy, that statement is especially egregious. It stands the concepts of tolerance and diversity on their head.

Fortunately, absolutism still doesn’t sell, as Mozilla’s own feedback site demonstrates. The site logged its highest level of negative feedback in its history on Friday, April 4th, but that paled in comparison to what it got yesterday:

Here are a few of the comments from today:

How disappointing that an innovative company such as yours would be so close-minded and intolerant to a Christian who lives what he believes. You say you believe in equal rights, yet discriminate against someone who believes differently than you. Why should a minority make the rules for the majority? Wake up and realize how wrong you are and give the Christian world a much deserved apology. …

I have used mozilla products for years, I actually preferred firefox over IE. I found the statement about the circumstances surrounding the untimely departure of the CEO, very hypocritical and naive. The groups bringing pressure over a contribution made in the past, or even possible personal opinions are Facistic and intolerable. …

Intolerance is a two way street. You just practiced a rather heinous form in pressuring your CEO to resign. In a world that practices true diversity and freedom of both speech and expression, you have caved to the gestapo that demands everyone think, act, and perform alike. I’m not only sad. I’m freaking furious. I also understand economic pressure. I plan on adding mine to the people who will no longer support or use your products. The browser is a memory hog anyway. …

I’m disappointed in Mozilla for practicing and promoting twenty-first-century McCarthyism. I believed in Mozilla. I donated to Mozilla. And now I see that the “openness” and “tolerance” that Mozilla supposedly values constitute a twisted, fascist, Newspeak ethic that demands punishment of thoughtcrimes. I have uninstalled Firefox, and as soon as get my new commercial e-mail client set up in a few days, Thunderbird goes too.

I’ve been watching the site since last week, and expected the feedback to dwindle down over the weekend. I’d bet Mozilla did, too.

Former Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton aide Jon Lovett, looking at the same phenomenon from the other side of the political divide, calls this the Politics of Shut Up (lightly reformatted by me for clarity):

In the past week, the CEO of Mozilla, Brendan Eich, one of the company’s co-founders, was forced to resign over his support for Proposition 8, the anti-gay marriage law that passed in a 2008 California referendum before it was later struck down by the courts. But this is only the most recent example.

Here’s a list of some other people who were told to shut up, off the top of my head:

Alec Baldwin was also told to shut up about gay people. This one comes up a lot.

Mike Huckabee was told to shut up about women.

The Whole Foods CEO was told to shut up about Obamacare.

Richard Sherman was told to shut up about winning while being black, I guess. …

The bottom line is, you don’t beat an idea by beating a person. You beat an idea by beating an idea. Not only is it counter-productive—nobody likes the kid who complains to the teacher even when the kid is right—it replaces a competition of arguments with a competition to delegitimize arguments. And what’s left is the pressure to sand down the corners of your speech while looking for the rough edges in the speech of your adversaries. Everyone is offended. Everyone is offensive. Nothing is close to the line because close to the line is over the line because over the line is better for clicks and retweets and fundraising and ad revenue.

We used to know this. We used to relish the debate. Now that politics have become our entire identity, we’re looking for ways to make sure we don’t have to debate. It’s making us lazy, irresponsible, and absolutists when we should be improving our ideas and our ability to engage people.

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<blockquoteWill Mozilla and OKCupid fire all their Muslim workers now because of their religious beliefs?

faraway on April 8, 2014 at 12:04 PM

Of course not. Just as with the rest of the militant left they value islam’s anti-West, anti-Christianity, anti-American values stance and their willingness to commit VIOLENCE to take them all down over the lives and freedom of women, gheys blacks and even hispanics…

Will Mozilla and OKCupid fire all their Muslim workers now because of their religious beliefs?

faraway on April 8, 2014 at 12:0

This seems logical since they get stoned to death or worse for being gay.
Yes, they should without a doubt insist that they renounce their faith.(but not convert to Catholicism
because thats even worse)

I argue that our political culture has shifted away from debate as a part of citizenship to our total identity — and the rise of absolutism as a result.

Not new. The pro choice v pro abortion row is the archetype and it’s been around for a long time.

True that we are seeing more of this type of polarization. In part, I would say it is because activists are much more able to coordinate and cooperate. Thanks in part to the internet. They also have their own dedicated web sites and blogs even (DKos, HotAir). They have their own 24-hour TV networks (MessNBC).

Finally, I think that “climate science” has introduced a new wrinkle. The notion of “settled science” by “consensus” gives the zealot the authority (in his own mind) of unerring and rigorous, incontrovertible truth to his opinions (e.g. they’re born gay v they’re not born gay).

I ditched Firefox (much as I didn’t want to). I can’t support fascists. And with Mozilla being so willing to support fascism to support the leftist agenda, I don’t find it a stretch that they’d allow backdoors to allow conservatives to be spied on.

Here is the problem with scrutinizing someone’s political activism. Does anyone know for sure if Eich doesn’t support gay marriage? Maybe he gave to Prop 8 because he didn’t like the fact that Judges were overturning the will of the California voter. Just because he wouldn’t bow on the alter of political correctness and go to gay reeducation camp does not mean that anyone knows the intent behind his political donation.

I ditched Firefox (much as I didn’t want to). I can’t support fascists. And with Mozilla being so willing to support fascism to support the leftist agenda, I don’t find it a stretch that they’d allow backdoors to allow conservatives to be spied on.

ConstantineXI on April 8, 2014 at 12:17 PM

Funny how Firefox went silent after that stupid statement that they value everybody’s opnions except those that support traditional marriage. I’m wondering just how big a hit their fascist organization has taken by intolerance.

It’s not limited to same-sex marriage, or even one party. This attitude exists in both parties on issues such as immigration and budget policy.

Bullsh*t. I’m not buying this moral equivalence argument. You always drag it in. It’s a kind of absolutism unto itself.

There are profound differences between left and right. It is NOT coming from both sides. With the Left, it is systemic, organic, reflexive. It’s been that way since Robispierre. But what happens here is that the Right is often compelled to take an extreme position or make an extreme argument because true moderation, reasonableness and civil discourse have been so utterly degraded and culturally marginalized by the rapacious forces of Progressivism. To say that all illegal immigrants should be deported may sound extreme, but in fact, upon analysis, it is actually logical, and is only introduced into the argument as a response to the insanity of amnesty, of having no legal standards whatsoever.

Here is the problem with scrutinizing someone’s political activism. Does anyone know for sure if Eich doesn’t support gay marriage? Maybe he gave to Prop 8 because he didn’t like the fact that Judges were overturning the will of the California voter. Just because he wouldn’t bow on the alter of political correctness and go to gay reeducation camp does not mean that anyone knows the intent behind his political donation.

melle1228 on April 8, 2014 at 12:18 PM

Perhaps. But he also didn’t come out and defend himself or his donation. If that’s all it was then why not come out and say it and get the furor over. Instead he let himself be drummed out of a company he co-founded. It looks like there is a deeply held belief there.

Perhaps. But he also didn’t come out and defend himself or his donation. If that’s all it was then why not come out and say it and get the furor over. Instead he let himself be drummed out of a company he co-founded.

gwelf on April 8, 2014 at 12:30 PM

Yes. I think in all the commotion over this event we’ve overlooked the core of the story here: Eich himself. He utterly failed. No one could have fought this fight as he could have, and he sh*t the bed.

- That same side has become the only side the LawgiversLawmakers-In-Black (judges for those of you in Rio Linda) give the time of day to.

Steve Eggleston on April 8, 2014 at 12:31 PM

Fixed it for you. Judicial activism is not about giving (interpreting) law, it is about making law by a bunch of unelected “jurists.” And yet when they should be making a determination about the law (early hearing of the NSA spying) they punt instead of seeking to clarify our civil freedoms.

“Free speech’s second function is less understood. It buttresses the political system’s legitimacy. It helps losers, in the struggle for public opinion and electoral success, to accept their fates. It helps keep them loyal to the system, even though it has disappointed them. They will accept the outcomes, because they believe they’ve had a fair opportunity to express and advance their views. There’s always the next election. Free speech underpins our larger concept of freedom.”

Great move on Mozilla’s part. Cater to at most 3% of the population while ticking off the majority Christian population which is around 85%. I uninstalled Mozilla on my 3 computers and sent a complaint to them stating that their intolerance towards the majority view was the reason I left them in the dust.

But what happens here is that the Right is often compelled to take an extreme position or make an extreme argument because true moderation, reasonableness and civil discourse have been so utterly degraded and culturally marginalized by the rapacious forces of Progressivism.

rrpjr on April 8, 2014 at 12:28 PM

Truth. Look who Republicans have run in the big dance since Clinton:
– a “compassionate” conservative who doubled the education budget, added prescription drugs to Medicare, and ran what was at the time an “unamerican” deficit of $400b at its peak;
– McCain, who is moderate enough to fail most True Conservative litmus tests, but was demonized as being “to the right of” Bush.
– Romney, who signed a micro-model for Obamacare in his blue state, but was accused of tax fraud and killing people’s wives with cancer.

If there’s one thing the left has taught, it’s that trying to meet someone halfway just makes less effort for them to punch you in the face. So you might as well make your stand and take the slings and arrows. Stand for the protection of human life. Stand for reasonable spending. Stand for restrained government. What have you got to lose? They hate you anyway even if you try to find common ground.

We used to know this. We used to relish the debate. Now that politics have become our entire identity, we’re looking for ways to make sure we don’t have to debate.

That’s not what’s going on. What’s going on is that leftists know that their ideas and positions are pretty much indefensible so they can only make themselves feel correct by shutting others up.

Of course, there are people who are so dumb that they ought to just shut up – like these moron leftists who never should have been let out of their sandboxes – but these particular cases are those in which the ones who KNOW that they should be shut up are projecting on others and taking pre-emptive action to try and insulate their demented stupidity. They are trying to overuse the “shut-up” response so that no one can ever use it, even when it obviously makes sense (such as when a mathematical illiterate like Barky – who can’t even do basic arithmetic with fractions – is trying to lecture people on complex finance … the “profit AND earnings ratios” and such …).

This is what happens to a society that becomes infested with self-hating nihilists, as Western leftists are.

Welcome to what Lord Messiah Obama has brought forth unto the nation. A nation divided as never before, a nation where leftists use violence to get Obama’s post racial country fundamentally transformed.

our political culture has shifted away from debate as a part of citizenship to our total identity

Yes, identity, like race, creed, color, gender, sexual orientation, class. Such base identifications are behind a lot of conflict in the world. We’re so fortunate in the US, with our equal protection and equality under the law. And yet, we’re drifting away from those, encouraged by Obama and those like him.

The great religions say to treat everyone equally. “Love your brother as yourself”. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Not based on what group they belong to. Contrary to the principle he cited in his 2004 DNC convention keynote speech, Obama has done a lot to separate us into “red” and “blue” states, rich and poor, black and white. It’s evil what he’s done.

Fixed it for you. Judicial activism is not about giving (interpreting) law, it is about making law by a bunch of unelected “jurists.” And yet when they should be making a determination about the law (early hearing of the NSA spying) they punt instead of seeking to clarify our civil freedoms.

Happy Nomad on April 8, 2014 at 12:41 PM

“Giving” doesn’t mean what you think it does. It is the more traditional “here is your law; if you don’t like it, tough because you don’t have the ability to change it” definition.

Get out your Bibles and read Isaiah, Daniel and Revelation. It only gets worse from here. Fortunately the Bridegroom Church will eventually be taken to Heaven so all of those left behind will enjoy the fruits of their passions…for a season. Then things will take a nasty turn for the worse. Hopefully the Spirit of God opens their eyes.

Christ died in love to save us from ourselves yet we think we are in control of things and we can do as we please. I gave up on that lifestyle along time ago.

Call me crazy. We are “strangers and pilgrims.” I’m sticking with the Lord.

Fortunately, absolutism still doesn’t sell, as Mozilla’s own feedback site demonstrates. The site logged its highest level of negative feedback in its history on Friday, April 4th, but that paled in comparison to what it got yesterday:

I suspect the word got around to more people about where to post negative feedback (frowny face) to Mozilla. That is why there is a spike yesterday. Let’s see if the trend continues today.

I ditched Firefox (much as I didn’t want to). I can’t support fascists. And with Mozilla being so willing to support fascism to support the leftist agenda, I don’t find it a stretch that they’d allow backdoors to allow conservatives to be spied on.

ConstantineXI on April 8, 2014 at 12:17 PM

Me, too. I’m sure the nosy Parkers at Google are tracking how many more downloads there’ve been of their “Chrome” web browser. I’d love to see that statistic. I know I’m one of them.
And I think that someone also tracks the relative numbers of “hits” by the different web browsers – I think it’s Google, but I’m not sure. I’ll bet the hits by FireFox have been going down.